A conversation with Alexis Tucci
One thing we’re absolutely *not* about at UltraMaroon is an outfit repeat. With every episode we try to serve something fresh, so it wouldn’t be on brand for us to invite our good friend Alexis Tucci back without coming up with some sort of twist!
Alexis is, in fact, back for Season 4, Episode 5… and she’s bringing some very horny friends from Saint Louis along for the ride! Ahead of her return, our very own DavidXDaisy sat down with her to learn more about her past and present. Check it out!
Alexis Tucci is the sensation playing the entire queer nation these past few years, but that success represents decades of being a major hometown hero in the St. Louis music scene and beyond. From her start in the underground rave scene in the 90s to collaborating with live musicians in recording studios and venues since the 2000s, Tucci has honed her sound to the tune of all genres spanning the full spectrum of grooves and dance music. You may know her best for disco, but she is so much more, and will be bringing something special and close to her heart this Sunday for UltraMaroon: Horns!
DXD: How did you get your start in nightlife?
AT: I feel like there are so many moments that all crashed into each other all at once when I was very young that paved my way into the nightlife scene – but I guess there has to be a start.
When I was 15, I went with a bunch of friends to a warehouse party in Saint Louis because our friend’s brother was working on some sort of sensory experience there. I later learned that the party we were at was basically the first underground rave in our city. A couple weeks later at Lollapalooza, someone pointed out the promoter from that warehouse party sitting a few rows ahead of us, at which time I climbed over all the seats to get to him and poured out my undying appreciation for what I had experienced at his event and committed to do anything I could to be a part of it all.
The rest is history and the beginning of my career as a promoter in Saint Louis. This was 1990. The promoter I was working for would meet me at my all-girl catholic high school and drop off flyers, and I would promote all weekend long, handing them out and flyering cars in the city. My father was a good friend of the property owner who rented out many of the venues for these parties. So what would have potentially been tabu (a 15-year-old girl attending and promoting underground raves) became more like a very special invitation into a world most kids like me were too young to join at that time. I was protected and looked out for because of the respect this community had for my father. Three years after this time, my father and I joined forces with another local promoter and I threw my first rave in Saint Louis. I feel very lucky to be able to say I was there on Day One and I’m still in it today! The DJing came later. I wanted to be a girl DJ that played dub and trip-hop, soul and funk. But learning how to mix on records with so many different time signatures and beat patterns was difficult, so by default I started spinning house music. I really didn’t start playing consistently and professionally until around 1999/2000.
DXD: How would you best describe your sound?
AT: Ohh boy. I guess I’m a house DJ that leans into anything funky and soulful, punchy and driving, and obviously also disco – new, old, and everything in between. I really love edits and remixes of originals, modernizing the essence of the best era of music in my opinion. I will draw from techno, trance, and Afro house sounds as well, as long as I can hear the soul pour out. I want harmonies, melodies, and emotion.
DXD: Given your roots in the warehouse rave scene, has that EDM sound carried through in your own work or is it more something you appreciate as a party goer?
AT: I think what has kept me relevant as a 48-year-old “old school, veteran raver, OG mama bear” is that I never shut out the advancement of electronic music or the introduction to new electronic music, despite whether or not it was a sound I liked or played. I have always been known to cross genres in my selections, and I’m also a very supportive member of the music scene at home. It took me three years, but I finally found a DJ, Joker from the UK, that delivered dubstep with harmonies and melodies and really made that type of music sing! And the more I grew with bass music, or the evolution of pop music into electronic music, or hip hop that took on an EDM persona, I feel my sound became much more expansive and allowed for broader audiences to feel and understand what I was trying to deliver.
I’m not going to lie. EDM as it relates to actual electronic dance music in raw form (not the aforementioned hybrids) gets lazy and monotonous at times, drawing from the cheesiest parts of pop music, or becomes so unbelievably watered down for the blandest of palettes that I just wonder why some people even bother. But alas, all of it is important to the timeline and evolution of dance music; and although EDM has not infiltrated my sound, it has definitely influenced it… well, the good stuff has!
DXD: Along with DJing, you’re also an accomplished event producer, notably for the long-running Nightchaser in St. Louis. What has been your secret for success in that event and your role as event producer? Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.
AT: Haha! Influenced heavily by Burning Man, I believe in going all-in when it comes to bringing the imagination to life! Nightchaser is an immersive experience ticking all the sensory boxes. And the music is always carefully curated to complement the creative design and vice versa. We want the whole night to tell a story as you move from room to room. We celebrate the producers, designers, and techs as much as we do the headlining acts. Additionally, we have always publicly led with love, diversity, and inclusion. We have pushed the boundaries when it comes to comfort levels and breaking down divide lines within our community. Our events are designed not to be an escape, but rather a place to refuel and be reminded that there is a lot of beauty left in this world and that when times get tough, everything’s gonna be alright.
DXD: The disco sound, which you do very well, has had an incredible resurgence in the queer scene since 2020. What do you feel has contributed to that?
AT: I distinctly recall opening weekend in Fire Island Pines of 2021, when Matt and Blake invited me to play Fruit Falls – a magical night when a major pivot had started to take place. It was as if every single fella who was with me that weekend had wanted something different, an alternative to circuit, but no one knew how to ask for it, which is why I feel our relationship grew so fast. And what a trip, falling into that moment all because a few incredible fellas believed in me. Since then, there has been a celebration of all kinds of new young house DJs as well as other veteran DJs who finally have permission to play fun-loving disco and house. It is a real honor to be a part of this renaissance of music in the queer scene and beyond, and to be amongst a very talented pool of DJs redefining how music is supposed to feel on the dancefloor with community at its core.
DXD: Speaking of your disco sound, Someone From Berlin has dubbed this edition of UltraMaroon as “Alexis Tucci *not* doing disco.” What can guests expect to hear from your library this Sunday?
AT: I’m always trying to find moments within my sets to remind the audience that I play so much more music besides disco, although disco and funk-focused music run through my veins. Years ago when I played with my first band, I played mostly Latin tech house. I love hard-driving tunes, but I’d have to say that Afro house, globally-influenced techno, and house are styles of music I play with the same level of passion and intensity as disco. I’m planning to play a lot of tribal music with a bit more dramatic storyline. Plus, I’m bringing in horns from Saint Louis, so that alone is going to spice up the performance!
DXD: Your talents DJing alongside live musicians is not new for you. Your band Hot House Sessions with Chris Hansen on percussion and Kasimu Taylor on trumpet, along with other rotating artists, received high praise in St. Louis and beyond in the 90s and early 2000’s. Tell us more about the hey-day of Hot House Sessions.
AT: It was glorious. Chris Hansen is my ex-husband and co-parent to our beautiful boys. He’s also my close friend. About six months after we met, we started playing music together. Chris is a Latin and Afro-Cuban percussionist. Together with Kasimu Taylor on trumpet, Jef Lash on vibes and Papa Ray on harmonica as well as a handful of other musicians made up our improvisational act which had the musicians jamming all night long alongside my sets. And because of the instrumentation variety, we were able to hold down residencies in soul clubs, blues bars, and jazz joints, not to mention night clubs and sushi bars. We were playing close to 250 shows a year in front of thousands of people during that time.
DXD: Your more recent band endeavor was the Disco Techs, which included members of the Funky Butt Brass Band and the Brothers Lazaroff. Do you feel the atmosphere of spinning with the full live band created a larger audience and opportunity for people to be introduced to the house sound?
AT: I absolutely believe that to be true. Live instrumentation allows the audience to see and feel all of the instruments in the recorded dance tracks that otherwise might be lost on the consistent 4/4 beat that is sometimes off-putting to those that prefer live music instead of DJs. And The Disco Techs is one of a bunch of configurations I play with. There are so many incredibly talented musicians in Saint Louis, home to Miles Davis. I love collaborating with anyone who is down to jam.
DXD: You recently said to Miya Norfleet for St. Louis Public Radio: “I have been inspired by live instrumentation and live bands at the same time I was falling in love with house music. So as I started to collect dance music, I wanted stuff that reflected a depth within the sound. I wanted to hear live instruments. I wanted to hear vocals, I wanted messages of uplifting energy. And I think that is what separated me from others.”
This seems to have been a mission statement for you for a career spanning almost 30 years. Tell us about that catalyst moment in life of falling in love with house music and live bands at the same time, which has been a guiding force in your work.
AT: The first friend I ever made at a drinking fountain at one of the first raves I attended was a huge Grateful Dead fan. And through that friendship, he and his friends introduced me to the world of tours and jam band music, which spanned into funk, soul, rhythm and blues, and nu:jazz. The way I play with live instruments is very reflective of a long jam sequence on stage. It’s just a bunch of artists vibing together and feeding off the energy of the room and each other.
DXD: Speaking of your live musician collaborators, please introduce us to your special guests that will be bringing the Horns to UltraMaroon this Sunday!
AT: I am super pumped to be bringing two of the most talented, respected, and adored horn players from Saint Louis. Adam Hucke and I have been playing for years together in the Disco Techs and other freestyle collaborations, and his dynamic partner in music Aaron Chandler has been brought in for some of my bigger shows when we really needed the horns to pack a punch. Both play in a handful of truly the best projects in town, but are most frequently referenced with their New Orleans inspired party band and second line, The Funky Butt Brass Band.
DXD: Hello Adam Hucke and Aaron Chandler! How long have you been playing your respective instruments and what began your experience of improvising with a record playing?
ADAM: I've been playing trumpet since I was 9-years-old. Improving with recorded music is something I've been doing for as long as I can remember. It was never enough to just listen to the music. I wanted to participate too, and if you don't know the music in question, you might as well make something up and play along.
AARON: The trombone entered my world at the age of 12, uninvited, and stuck around like a questionable mole. Years before that, I found a deep fascination with the sounds that came from my record player – of course my first record was Dolly Parton. At first, I'd try to match pitches on a piano when I was too short to reach the keys. That soon led to making up my own wild renditions, pecking along to AC/DC and Kool and the Gang records. That taught me how to listen for the spaces that are okay to step into and eventually the experience to lay out when necessary.
DXD: What has been your experience in seeing an audience’s reactions when it becomes this more immersive musical moment with live instruments?
ADAM: I love the reactions I've seen combining the groove and dance aspects of the music with elements that are alive and breathing. There will be moments during the night where everything lines up – the energy, the sounds, the dancers, the climaxes. These are the special moments.
AARON: Nothing gets my energy moving the way connecting with an audience on a spiritual and musical level can. My vibes lock in when I see people react to something that's flowing well and that live interaction only exists when we're all on the same wavelength. The cool kids call it a flow state. I'm not really making or forcing musical decisions. We're allowing it to happen. Playing shows with Alexis has been the most profound version of that flow state I've experienced. Every time.
DXD: When you’re not playing alongside a groovy track with Alexis, what music are you drawn to play and inspired by?
ADAM: I'm drawn to a wide variety of music. Last night I sang an entire show of songs by The Doors, and tonight I'm playing trumpet with Alexis at a rave in NY, NY. Give me that variety and I'll stay happy forever. Oh, and Tuvan throat singing.
AARON: By nature, I'm baptized in the waters of funk – Parliament, James Brown, Maceo Parker, and Fred Wesley. But when I lay down the horn I've always reached for a guitar. I love playing and singing good ol’ shit kickin' honky tonk music. That's one of those itches that never gets fully scratched.
DXD: Thank you Adam and Aaron! We look forward to having you both join us on Sunday. Alexis, it is Saturday night, and you’re not working. Where are you at to have a good time?
AT: Mostly when I’m not working, I’m at home being a mom to two bright and very hilarious teenagers. I force them to hang with me as much as I can when I’m home. These days, their schedules are busier than mine though! So when they are out and about I’m usually futzing around the house getting music and my life together before the next trip or catching some local music near home.
DXD: What’s a track/artist/set that’s especially been inspiring you lately?
AT: I found some old DJ Harvey mixes and cannot wait to get him to Saint Louis. Also two disco producers, SilverRider and Birdie.
DXD: Top 3 things you love seeing at parties?
AT: People dancing like nobody's watching. Seeing all of the faces that have pushed their way up front because they know that I play 10 times better with their energy and presence front and center ( ...they get me.) Seeing other promoters and DJs come out to support other people’s parties!
DXD: What are you most looking forward to for your upcoming Sunday at UltraMaroon?
AT: Returning to a room full of people I love so much! UltraMaroon has the greatest vibe, a deeply felt love and togetherness, and the cutest club kids in all the land! I’m also very excited to share a bit of Saint Louis and vice versa with my friends playing horns.
Thank you Alexis! We look forward to having you rejoin Someone From Berlin on the UM decks, along with Adam and Aaron on horns.
You can hear it all at UltraMaroon this Sunday, January 8, at Blue Midtown. Doors open for Happy Hour at 5pm. Get your tickets here!
IG: @alexistucci | SoundCloud: Alexis Tucci
Xx,
DavidXDaisy